At 9:15am today, with the singing of the
"Third Hour", in the presence of the
Holy Father, the Third General Congregation of
the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for
America, was held, with the continuation of the
debate on the Synodal theme. President Delegate
on duty was H. Em. Card. Roger Michael MAHONY,
Archbishop of Los Angeles.

Pastoral attention to the Spanish-speaking
peoples of the United States and Canada concerns
the entire continent. There is concern in the
United States and Canada for the promotion of
priestly and religious vocations among the
Spanish-speaking inhabitants and for training
them suitably in order to respond to cultural,
religious and social traditions which are
different from those of the rest of the
population. The Church in Latin America must be
generous and sacrifice herself for the sister
churches in the United States and Canada. It is
not a matter, as some people mistakenly say, of
poor churches helping rich churches. It is
something very different; the Church in Latin
America must be close to her poor people who
emigrate to the north in search of a better
life. If we do not do this, the Church will lose
many of her faithful, and in a short time
organized groups will turn them away from their
faith in exchange for material help and other
services. From this Synod for America, I call
upon Latin America, despite her poverty, to help
Canada and the United States. It is also a fact
that on our continent the social and economic
gap between North and South is often very wide.
As Pastors, we must do all we can to eliminate
or at least reduce this gap. First of all, there
are three things we can do.

1. Urge that fairer prices be paid for the
products exported by Latin America to Canada and
the United States. More than handouts and loans,
we just want justice.

2. The United States and Canada should sell
the goods we import from them at more reasonable
prices.

3. The Pastors should denounce without any
compromise the scandalous arms trafficking from
North to South America. We do not need arms just
to repeat the story of Cain and Abel every day,
to make our democracies more fragile and to
leave less bread and less love for our peoples.
What we need are more schools, high schools and
universities. More hospitals and homes, more
highways and bridges. In other words, a better
life for everyone. May the Synod help us to
achieve this.

1. The present and future of the Church
depend on the number and quality of pastoral
vocations. We must therefore nurture these
vocations so that they may be an integral part
of the pastoral activity of the Church.

2. Means to develop human resource training
for candidates for the priesthood require urgent
strengthening, because most of the weaknesses of
our priests are human weaknesses. Many people
turn away from the Church, go over to other
religions or become indifferent because of the
lack of humanity on the part of priests.

3. We must insist on self-denial, sacrifice,
discipline, silence and prayer, considering the
distractions and comfort which surround us. To
this end, the seminaries can offer a gradual,
permanent process of evangelization and
catechesis of the students without just assuming
that they are evangelized and converted, so that
a meeting with the living Christ may occur. This
is the only way to conversion, communion and
solidarity.

4. We should continue the search for ways
towards an incultured training of candidates for
the priesthood among native peoples, since their
culture has not always been respected and they
are ashamed of it because we have been unable to
give it its proper value and integrate it. In
Mexico we have about 300 indigenous priests and
over 200 seminarians from most of the 56 ethnic
groups in the country. Mainstream opinion is
against setting up special seminaries for them
so as to avoid the formation of class divisions
among of clergy.

5. Taking into account the growing
dechristianization of Europe and North America,
our future priests have to be trained with a
missionary heart, open to the whole world<
also in order to evangelize Europe, now that
most European countries can no longer send us
missionaries, and they are beginning to feel the
need for us. They should also be trained to be
close the multitudes of faithful who emigrate to
the north.

6. Specific institutions are needed for
training teachers in our seminaries, in all
areas, especially in psychology.

Like St. Peter at the doors of the temple, we
listen to the desires of men and give them what
we have (Ac 3:4). Pastoral promotion requires a
close link between the contents of faith and the
major aspects of the Church’s mission, in a
time related with the life and tasks of humanity.
Under the current conditions, a new commitment
is required to call the faithful to the Sunday
celebration, to attend the Holy Mass and receive
the Eucharist. Just one out of four or five
baptized people attend Sunday Mass.

There should be a vigorous overhaul of
pastoral organization, so that the celebration
of the Eucharist is really the source and goal
of the whole of Christian life (LG, 11). The
best service which ministers of the Church can
provide to the faithful, the most highly
qualified, fruitful and irreplaceable is the
celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice. Only
in the undertaking of this redeeming ministry
and the distribution of the Bread and the Word
can their lives have meaning.

However, attention must also be paid to the
sacrament of Penitence, so that it does not
become a mere formality. Liturgical groups must
be trained so that the community expresses
itself in accordance with its own culture.
Better contents of the homilies are required,
using evangelizing and catechetal vigor, concise
and direct language. Resources collected in the
form of offerings and collections should be
managed in order to provide concrete solidarity
with the poor.

Participation in the Holy Mass is important
in popular devotion with a massive involvement
in the feasts of patron saints and other
important events. If this faith becomes deeper
and more constant, it can lead to the renewal of
Christian life in the communities and provide
greater strength to deal with the critical
situations they face.

"Ecumenism is not just some sort of ‘appendix’
which is added to the Church’s traditional
activity. Rather it is an organic part of her
life and work" (Ut unum sint, No.
20). It is of course obvious that ecumenical
activity will differ from one place to another,
but even in areas where there is an absence of
significant numbers of members of other Churches
and Ecclesial Communions, the local Catholic
Church cannot consider herself thereby dispensed
from ecumenical sensitivity and commitment.

It would be tragic for the credibility of the
Church universal if there were to be a division
of commitment to ecumenism between a large
number of her members actively engaged in the
ecumenical movement and another important group
of members who do not see ecumenism as "an
organic part" of their life and work.
Indeed, where the Catholic Church is in fact the
Church of the great majority it is surely her
duty to take the lead in responding to the Lord’s
prayer to the Father for his disciples "that
they may be one".

The presence of many Evangelicals in Latin
America is at once a threat and a challenge for
the Catholic Church. Catholics and Evangelicals
are today the two largest Christian bodies in
the world, and are also those that are growing
the fastest. Where Catholics and Evangelicals
have come together to talk to each other and to
seek to understand each other, both in North
America and in Latin America, much of the
antagonism has been overcome and new
relationships formed. There is much common
ground between Catholics and Evangelicals in
matters of ethics and moral behavior; we both
place our hope in the one mediator between God
and man, Jesus Christ. We are far apart on many
doctrinal questions, but where Evangelicals are
open to contact and discussion, I believe that
we have an obligation to show ourselves
similarly open.

I would make an appeal to the Assembly to
take special care in the way that the term
"sects" is used. As the Instrumentum
Laboris wisely points out, "the
situation concerning the new religious movements
and the sects is very complex" (No. 45).
Christian groups are deeply offended when they
are lumped together with non-Christian
organizations and new religious movements. Often,
we do not distinguish between sectarian
attitudes and sects. There can be sectarian
attitudes in the Churches and in all Christian
communities - but that does not make that Church
or Christian community a sect.

1. I bless the initiative of the Holy Father
John Paul II to summon us to this Synod in order
to make an extensive analysis of our ecclesial
reality, and to deepen our conversion through
communion and solidarity.

2. In order to help us in this analysis, we
can wonder why our efforts to introduce the
Gospel into the dominant culture of our times in
America and bring about conversion have failed.

3. We are working intensely and have
extensive resources, both human and material, in
the Church working in America. Nevertheless,
things seem to be going badly. We haven’t hit
the mark.

4. Perhaps we have ignored that most
important thing, making an attractive,
unambiguous presentation of the Person, the gift
and the message of Jesus Christ for humanity and
for history. How are we presenting Christ? How
much time are we really devoting in our pastoral
activity in speaking and communicating with
Christ’s gift? Are we conveying, with the
enthusiasm and joy of our Catholic identity, the
message of Christ about life, love, the family,
political and economic life?

5. With the challenges of the future and the
problems of the present, the response is the
same as the one given by St. Peter: "I have
neither silver nor gold, but I will give you
what I have: in the name of Jesus Christ the
Nazarene, walk!" (Ac 3:6). The answer is to
live to its fullest our faith in Jesus and to
openly proclaim the supreme gift of God to
humanity: grace and salvation through Jesus made
man. The answer is to live our ecclesial life in
Jesus more intensely, and openly proclaim the
message of salvation, clearly and boldly,
without disputes between churches and in the joy
of our Catholic identity.

The impact exerted by the social media, in
particular by telelvision, is immense. There are
some very positive programs, but there are also
many programs which present a non Christian view
of life. Some are even immoral. It is important
to increase and improve the production of good
TV programs which could contribute towards the
formation of a Christian culture.

It is indispensable to prevent broadcasting
programs which could cause great damage due to
scenes of violence, sexuality and consumerism as
ideals of life.

Bad programs cannot be avoided neither by
forbidding them nor by persuading those in
charge of TV channels, but by stopping
production of them altogether.

This ideal situation can only be reached if
all entrepreneurs refuse to finance immoral
programs. Then TV networks will not buy these
negative programs and producers will no longer
produce them.

It would be best if all Bishops in America
campaigned together so that Christian
entrepreneurs and others who, even if not
Christian would appreciate people’s ethical
views and undertook to withdraw their publicity
regarding immoral programs or any other type of
support of that nature.

We Bishops must give our Church of America
what is most important. In this sense, there is
something which is always present in the life of
the Church and decisive for the future which
concerns all of us: this is holiness in the
Church.

Holiness is the way of meeting and being in
the steps of Christ, as a model of life. And as
such, it is an urgent theme in the "inter
ecclesial reality", but also in the service
which the Church offers to society. The example
of Mother Teresa of Calcutta showed that the
world can receive the impact of a life given
with love and holiness.

Before a culture such as the present one with
vast areas where God is absent and where God is
ignored, we Pastors must be an encouraging voice
full of hope in order to change this way into
reality. Even if the Holy Spirit continues to
offer us examples of holiness in the different
organizations of the Church, however, it is
necessary to have a broader movement, under the
guidance of pastors, constant and globalizing,
which invites everybody to be holy as an urgent
issue of our times.

Therefore, we should ask ourselves what
fosters and what hinders the way to holiness in
order to support by our reflection
sanctification of all the members of the Church
and thus contribute something positive to
society on which the way to holiness is based.

The call to holiness must be a very clear
item of our Synod and must at the same time lead
us more and more towards an overall answer in
the meeting with Jesus. May our most Holy Mother,
the Mother of the Church, help us and may this
be one of the best and deepest ways of our Synod.

The new economic and social order which is
developing in the world, and which is now the
rule in the countries of Latin America and the
Caribbean, is contributing enormously to the
impoverishment of the peoples of these
countries, in open contrast to the plan and will
of the Creator who "has destined the earth
and all it contains for the use of all men and
peoples" (GS 69).

In this situation, the Church "is
obliged to make a serious effort of discernment"
(S.D. 193) and "public powers" are
called upon to undertake "concrete
action" so that "the market economy
does not turn into something absolute to which
everything must be sacrificed, thus highlighting
the inequality and marginalization of the vast
majority" (S.D. 195).

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the
social and economic models characterized by
inequality and exclusive development, have
excluded immense multitudes from a decent life.
Over recent decades this depressing situation,
the result of "structures of sin", has
been sustained by an unjust, inhuman economic
model called neo-liberalism which leads to
problems of structural poverty so that the
"poor distribution of wealth", the
"precariousness of social capital",
"markets without social control", and
the growing, suffocating "external debt"
have led to "a serious general social
crisis" in our societies.

According to the Social Doctrine of the
Church, "the imbalances between rich and
poor countries can only be overcome by setting
up a new international socio-economic order"
based on solidarity and justice. The ethical and
spiritual core of the real, complete development
of peoples lies in solidarity and social justice
(S.R.S. 38, 39; P. 20). It is therefore a matter
of promoting a new social order based on ethical
values and the Gospel.

"In the face of the ‘salvage’
economy, which involves serious phenomena of
marginalization and unemployment, if not forms
of intolerance and racism" (John Paul II to
young people at the UNIV International Congress
on 25.3.97), "it is necessary to take new
paths which lead to a culture of solidarity."

The cry of millions upon millions of poor and
marginalized people in our Latin American and
Caribbean societies due to this unjust economic
system with its "face of suffering" (S.D.
179), must be heard by the Church in the
Americas, and must be cased with evangelical
courage, and a desire to promote, for everyone’s
benefit, this "new international
socio-economic order" based on solidarity
and justice.

In order to achieve the meeting with the
living Jesus Christ, we have to experience Him
in our own lives. The faith of our peoples in
the Lord is connected with the credibility of
His disciples and Pastors. "Let those of
you who can hear listen to me." Before
preaching the Gospel to the community, let us
see how Jesus Christ appears to us on the path
to conversion, the paradigm of communion and the
model of solidarity. In order that our words,
attitudes, gestures, relationships and
activities may represent an epiphany of Jesus,
we have to allow the tenderness of God to be
reflected in the witness of merciful love, of
unqualified justice, of nearness to the weak.
This commitment will be decisive for the
increase or decrease in the number of priests.
There are a variety of requirements in America.
Pastoral care is needed for 30 million Hispanics
residing in the United States. While America has
half the Catholics, it might be hoped that it
would also provide half the world’s
missionaries. Permanent training means a process
of continuous conversion in faith in the
ministry of the priesthood. Willingness to work
for the universal mission beyond national
frontiers is decisive for this training.

Proposals:

- The DEVTM of CELAM and the Episcopal
Conferences of Canada and the United States
should promote the exchange of experience and
theological and pastoral encounters among the
bishops of the continent.

- We should increasingly be concerned with
training teacher trainers for ongoing
preparation of our priests.

- That the Inter-Dicasterial Commission for
the Distribution of the Clergy may cooperate
closely with the episcopates.

Education as a psycho-social process is
closely linked to evangelization, as well as
being essential for its success. Cultural
priority in Latin America lies in the coherent
experience of human and Christian values.

We cannot imagine the integral promotion of
man, much less the commitment to it, without
undergoing an authentic commitment and
attachment to the educational process. All this
has the utmost priority with regard to the
indigenous populations, ethnic minorities and
the many brothers excluded from this process
which is essential for personal development.

Lack of education harms and conditions most
of our brothers in America, and the Catholic
Church must regain its vocation and educational
commitment, since these are the basic
requirements for fulfilling her mission of
integral evangelization.

The meeting with the living Jesus Christ, the
way to conversion, communion and solidarity in
America will foster that educational process in
which everyone, guided by Jesus, our Master,
will advance towards the integral development of
each individual, in the context of society as a
whole, in the family and above all on the
personal level.

Jesus announced salvation for those hungering
for justice, and Christ’s disciples must
commit themselves to this struggle. In the
Gospel, ‘justice’ means the total, integral
fulfillment of God’s will.

True justice leads us to discover everything
God wants for the good of all men, and to devote
our life to the promotion of this justice.

For example, justice demands solidarity with
all men, the elimination of any type of racial,
social, cultural and religious discrimination.
Treating everyone, whatever their economic
condition, with the same respect, and
recognizing that they have the same rights.

Universal solidarity is a right and benefit
which everyone should enjoy. It is also a duty.
Man must meet with other men, nations must
encounter one another as brothers and sisters,
as children of God, We should start to jointly
create the progress of our countries through
this mutual understanding and friendship, this
sacred friendship.

The nations should look at and treat one
another with greater solidarity. Above all, the
strong should have greater regard for the weak.

External debt is a problem which must be
approached from the viewpoint of global ethics.
Its consequences affect the quality of services
and of living standards among our peoples and is
a burden which is too heavy for our countries;
precious resources should be allocated for
social programs to benefit people who have fewer
resources.

The Jubilee is the right occasion to think
about a significant reduction or even the
suspending of the foreign debt.

There can be no true reconciliation between
individuals and peoples if the conscience which
repents for sins does not have a positive impact
on initiatives for solidarity.

The material and spiritual hunger of the
Third World, as well as the Second World, is a
great challenge for Catholics at the dawn of the
new millennium.

According to our Instrumentum Laboris,
corruption in government structure is rampant in
the political field (N. 28). In the Apostolic
Letter Tertio millennium, the Holy Father recall
the responsibilities of Christians with regard
to the evils of our time (ibid. N. 36).

Corruption is one of the most serious evils,
a widespread plague with deep roots in the
different peoples, institutions and individuals,
perilously spreading throughout the world and in
the American continent in particular.

Corruption is a worldwide political, social
and economic phenomenon. It is a universal evil
in all continents and all cultures. Corruption
is closely associated with poverty, injustice,
immorality, the abuse of power for personal
profit. It regards the administration of
justice, electoral processes, the honest payment
of taxes, the personal sphere, means of social
communication and international trade
relationships. It is related with the drug
traffic, the arms trade, bribery, the sale of
favors and decisions, the enjoyment of special
privileges, illegal enrichment and illegal use
of power. It reflects the deterioration of moral
and ethical values. Corruption undermines the
legitimacy of public institutions, and is
harmful to society, morality and justice,
working against the integral development of
peoples. Society is profoundly worried by
corruption and is searching for different ways
to combat and eliminate it.

Considered from the viewpoint of Christian
morals, corruption violates God’s commandment
"Thou shalt not steal." It violates
the good name and the rights of individuals and
harms public resources - which should benefit
everyone - and blocks the integral development
of peoples. The Church in America is called upon
to denounce corruption and promote integrity by
word and by example, to proclaim the value of
the beatitudes, to recall the teachings of
Christ, conversion, justice, solidarity, honesty
and integrity.

The process of globalization in international
economy, typical of the modern world, is a
challenge for the for the efforts in
evangelization made by the Church. There are a
variety of effects on the individual conscience,
interpersonal relationships, culture and
organization and are likely to be even more
significant in the near future. This process is
therefore both an opportunity and a risk.

It is an opportunity because, if properly
oriented by Christian values, it can lead to
greater effectiveness in the economic field and
a chance to better alleviate poverty and hunger.
It is also a risk, however, because unless it is
based on the respect for the dignity of man, and
if this process is not perceived as a means to
continue to create this kingdom of love and
justice, as we are called upon to do as children
of God, the gap in the standards of living
between different regions, countries and peoples
could widen further.

Taking this into account, I would
respectfully like to propose the formulation and
the promulgation of an Encyclical on Ethics and
Economic Globalization. The words of the Pope
would be decisive to give a positive direction
to this process for the well-being of all men
and women, children of the same Father and
brethren in Christ.

The American continent has taken shape under
the dynamic influence of waves of migration and
we have every reason to suppose that this trend
will continue in the future. The wave of
south-north migration will certainly tend to
continue in spite of the restrictive measures
recently adopted. This migrationary movement
presents a challenging social phenomenon, as it
has now become an increasingly enormous tide of
humanity impossible to hold back. Some
characteristics: a remarkable growth in internal
migration due to social and economic problems
and the frequent deportations of people without
papers as the result of the harsh and inhuman
laws recently introduced.

Certain causes of this challenge: the unjust
distribution of wealth, corruption, violence,
traffic in narcotics, social situation of the
native peoples, unemployment, the lure of the
industrialized countries and the mirage of big
cities which attracts the peasants.

Lines of action: proper preparation of social
service workers, promotion of pastoral
coordination of the migrations in the churches
that receive them or send them forth, efforts to
defend the human rights of the migrants and
fight for more just migration laws.

Given the trend to create big cities in
America, there is a need to vitalize the
territorial parish, the sole evangelizing
structure close to the people: for their home
identification, to humanize their common life
taking full account of the various stages of
their lives.

This is why we would urge promotion of the
decisive participation of lay people, identified
as urban lay ministers.

We would also urge setting up personal
parishes for large sectors of the population,
and for properly defined areas in the cities.
These would be run by groups of lay people
living in the zone under the direction of a
priest as moderator. (c.517,2).

We would urge the creation of vicariates to
stimulate and coordinate urban pastoral
activities, bearing in mind that the pastoral
style of these new parishes will be different to
that of territorial parishes.

Through these pastoral initiatives the Church
would be able to provide all that is missing in
the cities for a more human existence and
establish the full communion to which God has
called us.

The Latin American presence in the Church in
the United States is truly alive and growing.
For this reason it is a special grace that our
Holy Father has called this Synod a special
Assembly for America. In a real sense today our
Church can speak of one America. Although the
New World comprises many cultures, languages and
nations, so much binds us together and in so
many ways we affect each other’s lives.

Concerns about priestly and religious
vocations, problems facing migrants and
newcomers, the need to seek justice and economic
stability for all our people in the face of
intolerable burdens of external debt - all the
answers can only be found when we become
conscious of the needs and resources of each
part of our hemisphere.

As we focus on the New World as a whole,
perhaps this is the time for the Holy See to
consider establishing a new initiative of
communication and cooperation among all the
Epicopal Conferences of the Western Hemisphere,
north and south, one that would facilitate a
more ample and structured collaboration in the
pastoral, charitable and social ministry
Apostolates of this New World of America.

The theological concept of communion
coincides with one of the signs of the times:
globalization. From this Synod concrete signs of
communion are expected, starting from the
reality of ecclesial organization (the family,
parish, diocese, episcopal conferences, CELAM
and any new forms which arise between the North
and South Americans).

The most specific aspect of every Church must
be made known and expressed in categories which
promote sharing. This is the way to express the
faith in Jesus Christ, the way of ecclesial
communion.

Paradoxically, exclusion still exists in a
globalized world. In order to change the
situation we must accelerate development and
create a joint action based on the global vision
of man and society, which the Church is able to
provide. So globalization of solidarity is
imperative if we are to be " mindful of the
needs of the weakest" (John Paul II), the
poor, who " are no burden to us because
they are our brothers and sisters" (USA
Bishops).

The good news of solidarity, which must
certainly be strengthened, should be announced
through words and actions, and that does not
always happen on our Continent.

Following the splendid example of ADVENIAT,
established 36 years ago by the German Church,
and which has given us so much, I would propose:

1. A North American ADVENIAT, on the same
lines, or else more generous in resources than
the German one, created by contributions from
Christians belonging to the most powerful
country in the world, to support the pastoral
efforts of the Churches of the South;

2. And in Latin America (where nobody is so
poor they cannot contribute something), create
an ADVENIAT of the 22 Episcopal Conferences of
the CELAM.

3. In the next century half the Christians of
the world will be living on our Continent. But
not half the missionaries... The Church of Latin
America cannot afford to ignore the 30 million
Hispanic people living in North America who look
to it for their evangelization. Solidarity
should also lead us to encourage and share the
work of missionaries, and at a Continental level.

The situation in so many of the countries and
among so many of the peoples of America has
become grievous because of the violence, that
has produced only suffering, poverty and death.

Faced with this reality the Church will have
to assume a special commitment in favor of
building peace. This job is a fundament part of
its evangelization mission. The Church has acted
by proclaiming and working for peace. In various
nations its work has been decisive in achieving
peace; and in others, its prophetic testimony
continues to enlighten the consciousness of
people and point out the way to make it
possible.

Moreover, if the way of the Church is man, in
the words of John Paul II, everything affecting
man in his life, his dignity and his legitimate
rights, cannot be alien the pastoral concern of
the Church itself.

The words of St. Ireneus of Lyons stemming
from the earliest and authentic Christian
tradition, illuminate the Church’s mission of
today - "Gloria Dei Homo vivens" - the
glory of god is the living man. Everything that
allows man to live and live in dignity, in his
status as person and Son of God, especially
gives glory to the Lord.

If the fundamental problem in many American
nations, especially Colombia, is the absence of
peace, the Church’s commitment, if it is true
to its mission, must be expressed in a sincere
effort to help find the means to make it
possible.

I consider that the fundamental desire of the
peoples of America is to be able to live in
peace. The Catholic Church, by its very nature,
mission and commitment with the people of God
who wander the face of this continent, cannot
remain indifferent to this need felt by so many
men and women among us suffering the scourge of
violence. A Church which does not strive for
peace, would not be the Church Christ founded.

At this point I wish to recall the words of
John Paul: "Peace is either for everybody
or it is for nobody". No believer can
remain indifferent before the quest for a peace
that is stable and lasting.